Living With a Google Nexus 9

For the past several weeks, I've been carrying a Google Nexus 9 tablet. It has proven to be a nicely built, fast Android tablet that works well, with an emphasis on showing off Android 5.0 Lollipop on a 64-bit processor.

For the past several weeks, I've been carrying a Google Nexus 9 tablet. It has proven to be a nicely built, fast Android tablet that works well, with an emphasis on showing off Android 5.0 Lollipop on a 64-bit processor.

The hardware itself, built by HTC, seems quite solid. Measuring 8.98 by 6.05 by 0.31 inches (HWD) and weighing 15 ounces, it's not quite as thin as an iPad Air 2 or as light as the Amazon Fire HDX (which has the same size but higher resolution display), but it's still quite easy to handle. The rubberized back feels quite solid in your hand, though it picks up fingerprints very rapidly. The 8.9-inch IPS LCD display has a 2,048-by-1,536 resolution, the same as the 9.7-inch iPad Air. The screen generally seems quite nice, if not quite up to the screens on the iPad Air 2 or Samsung Galaxy Tab S. I noticed a bit more reflection than on the iPad, and the resolution and color depth weren't quite up to the Tab S.

The 8-megapixel rear-facing camera is adequate but nothing special. In general, I found the iPad Air camera to be better; though then again, I'm not sure I would really use a tablet this large as a general camera.

What sets the Nexus 9 apart from a hardware perspective is the Nvidia Tegra K1 processor in the version with 192 "CUDA cores" (essentially programmable shaders) and Nvidia's custom 64-bit ARMv8 cores, known as Project Denver. Nvidia says this is the first 64-bit ARM processor designed for Android Lollipop and should support the latest graphics standards as well as providing great performance.

The graphics benchmarks on the chip look great, and the games I tried really seemed quite fast with graphics and details that looked better than I've seen on other Android tablets. On the other hand, Web browsing benchmarks don't look nearly as good, and there were many websites that seem to load faster on the iPad (when both were connected via Wi-Fi). Some of this may just be early software running 32-bit applications but not yet fully optimized for 64-bit processing, but it was a bit disappointing.

Still, what really makes the Nexus 9 stand out is the Android 5.0 Lollipop software, which has appeared first on this and the Nexus 6 phone, although versions should eventually be out for a variety of other, older Android devices as well, starting with older Nexus devices fairly soon now.

The biggest change in Lollipop—other than the 64-bit support—is the look, with what Google is calling its "material design" user interface, aimed at making the look and feel more consistent across devices and applications. In practice, this is a flatter, somewhat more rounded design, with new animations and transitions that definitely improve the look of Android, while in general keeping the speed improvements that came with the previous Android update. You'll notice this in little things, such as a tiny round shadow pulling down or up when you reach the top or bottom of a Web page. Not all applications are updated for Lollipop yet, but I do notice it in a number of third-party solutions already, and more should be coming. Overall, they do make Android feel a bit smoother and more polished.

Another significant change is to Notifications. You can now view and respond to notifications directly from the lock screen, and you can set certain messages or people for priority status, and then let only those messages through (or set it for particular times). I think this is useful, though likely to be more helpful on a phone. In addition, Lollipop comes with encryption automatically turned on; and with the ability to easily switch your device to another user or even a "guest" user, something you can't do with an iPad.

The Nexus series runs stock Lollipop, of course, so there isn't any of the third-party additions or "bloatware" that exist with many Android devices. The bottom of the screen typically displays three buttons: back, home, and recently used applications (which pop up as a series of "cards" heading backwards, just like Google Now). And speaking of Google Now, this shows up when you pull up from the home button or swipe left to right from the first home page of applications.

A number of applications have been rewritten for Lollipop, including Chrome, Gmail, Google Play Music, and Calendar (which looks much cleaner).

As pure Android, the tablet feels a little cleaner and more organized than most third-party Android tablets. There is no separate Gallery application; instead you use Photos, which is linked with Google's online photo storage to view your photos or play back videos. (Of course, you can download third-party apps.)

A shortcut menu giving you access to the most frequently used hardware options (such as turning on and off Wi-Fi) appear when you swipe down twice from the top. That's useful, although most Android vendors like Samsung, LG, or Huawei have already added similar features.

I tend to like the "pure Android" look without the third-party applications, though that's a matter of personal preference. But there are some third-party additions I missed: the Android tablets I've used lately from Samsung and LG all have the ability to display multiple applications at once, something I've found quite useful—for instance, when responding to a mail message about my schedule.

As usual, there are lots of applications for Android tablets, but in general, I've found the iPad has more tablet-specific choices or simply more advanced versions. (Check out the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, for instance, or look for the ESPN Sports Center app.) That's not to say the Android tablets don't work; they just aren't quite as advanced from that perspective. On the other hand, as usual, the Android ecosystem often includes lots of choices that Apple simply doesn't have.

Indeed, the Nexus 9 is just one of a number of similarly sized Android tablets that have come out this year, and it has its strengths and weaknesses. It runs the latest version of Android, and a pure version at that, so it's simpler and smoother than most. The processor is particularly fast for playing games, but other tablets have higher-resolution displays. On the other hand, it lacks the ability to show two applications at the same time, and on the hardware side, lacks any memory expansion ability, replaceable battery, or HDMI out—all of which are available on some alternatives.

At $399 for a 16GB Wi-Fi version or $479 for a 32GB one, the Nexus 9 is a relatively high-end tablet with great specs but not quite the top of the market. It's a good choice for a full-size Android tablet, but personally I'd probably choose the Galaxy Tab S with its better screen and multi-tasking features.

Michael J. Miller's Forward Thinking Blog: forwardthinking.pcmag.com
Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. From 1991 to 2005, Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, responsible for the editorial direction, quality and presentation of the world's largest computer publication.
Until late 2006, Miller was the Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media, responsible for overseeing the editorial positions of Ziff Davis's magazines, websites, and events. As Editorial Director for Ziff Davis Publishing since 1997, Miller took an active role in...
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